Naperville man gets 57 years for sex assault of child

A Naperville man was sentenced Friday to 57 years in prison for sexually assaulting a young girl numerous times between 1999 and 2007.

Stephen Silvey, 47, pleaded guilty in June to predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, aggravated criminal sexual assault of a child, intimidation and possession of child pornography.

Assistant DuPage County State's Attys. Demetri Demopoulos and Vincenza LaMonica said that Silvey, after befriending the family, assaulted the child on numerous occasions from December 1999 through December 2001 and from October 2004 through February 2007.

The evidence against Silvey included a recorded telephone conversation with the girl in which he threatened the victim and her family, at whose home he had often stayed before getting an apartment in the 100 block of South Testa Avenue.

Judge Peter Dockery, could have given Silvey up to 77 years in prison. Silvey was arrested after the victim told her family of the abuse.

"He was able to con the victim's family into a sense of trust in their home and with the victim," said DuPage County State's Atty. Joseph Birkett. "He then destroyed that trust by engaging in the worst form of child molestation short of murder. The adolescent innocence he took from his victim can never be restored."